Hurricane Kyle (Sandy156)
Hurricane Kyle was a super catastrophic and deadly Category 5 hurricane that devastated Puerto Rico and the Northeastern United States (especially New York). It was the second-deadliest Atlantic hurricane on record, only surpassed by the Great Hurricane of 1780, and the costliest hurricane on record, surpassing both Katrina and Harvey, who both caused $125 billion of damages. The eleventh named storm, eighth hurricane, fourth major hurricane, and first and only Category 5 hurricane of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, Kyle originated from a tropical wave that emerged off of Africa on early September. It then developed into a tropical storm in the midst of September 19. Later, it became a hurricane, influencing between a Category 1 and 2 hurricane. It made a turn southwest, striking the island of Guadeloupe on September 29 as a Category 2. It then abruptly turned north toward Puerto Rico, as it rapidly intensified into a Category 5 hurricane. It then reached its peak intensity on September 31, shortly before making landfall in Puerto Rico a few hours later. It rapidly weakened due to that landfall, but it strengthened again right after, again reaching Category 5 for 18 hours. On October 5, it impacted Bermuda and then took a turn northwest. It made landfall in Long Island on October 9, also impacting the city of New York there. It became a strong remnant low, still inland on October 10. Kyle caused a total of 18,291 deaths. Most of them were from Puerto Rico, after Kyle had brought up another human crisis there. Most of the remainder of the deaths were from New York City, due to high amounts of rain contributing to roughly 6 ft of flood there. Damages from Kyle were about $145 billion, most of this were from New York due to having skyscrapers there that were damaged by the hurricane. Meteorological History On September 12, a tropical wave emerged off of the coast of Africa. For a few days, it drifted westward, with no change in organization. On September 16, it started to organize, the NHC now tracking the system. Then on September 18 at 06:00 UTC, it was designated as a potential tropical cyclone, attaining tropical storm force winds twelve hours later. Eventually, it developed into a tropical storm, named Kyle by the NHC, on September 19 at 12:00. Moving westward gradually intensifying, Kyle was in warm waters with low wind shear. Finally on September 23 at 00:00 UTC, Kyle strengthened into a hurricane, three and a half days after it developed. Kyle didn’t strengthen further into a Category 2 hurricane until September 25, 18:00, when it attained 100 mph (160 km/h). From there on until September 31, it kept on influencing between a Category 1 and 2, with the exception of weakening to a tropical storm on late September 27, while it took a sharp turn southwest. At the third time of strengthening into a Category 2, it was approaching the island of Guadeloupe, which is in the Lesser Antilles. It hit the island on September 29 at 00:00 UTC, with sustained winds of 105 mph (170 km/h) and a minimum central pressure of 970 mbar. After it hit the island, it immediately weakened to a Category 1, six hours later. The hurricane strengthened back to a Category 2 hurricane on September 30, 06:00 UTC. 6 hours later, it unexpectedly started rapidly intensifying, jumping from a Category 2 to a Category 5 hurricane in a margin of 12 hours. It reached its peak intensity on September 31 at 06:00 UTC, with sustained winds up to 165 mph (270 km/h) and a minimum central pressure of 903 mbar (hPa). Six hours later, Kyle made landfall in southern Puerto Rico, just 10 mi (16 km) west of the city of Salinas. The hurricane weakened inland, becoming a Category 4 once it exited the island. Still, it diminished in the ocean as it still interacted with land, weakening to a Category 2 hurricane on October 1st, 00:00 UTC. Once it stopped interacting, it started to intensify again due to favorable conditions, becoming a major hurricane at 12:00 that day, a Category 4 early the next day, and then to a Category 5 on October 3 at 00:00 UTC. It eventually reached its secondary peak intensity at 06:00 that day, with winds up to 160 mph (260 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 917 mbar (hPa). Due to a decrease in water temperature, Kyle started gradually weakening, down to a Category 4 hurricane at 18:00 UTC the same day and then to a Category 3 an exact day later. It then abruptly intensified back to a Category 4 on October 5, 06:00 UTC, despite cooler waters. It then made its closest approach to the island of Bermuda 6 hours later, roughly 50 mi (80 km/h) from it. At 18:00 UTC, Kyle weakened to a Category 3, just as it started interacting with a nearby cold-core low, turning it toward the northwest. Early on October 7, the hurricane weakened below major hurricane strength, just as it was heading toward New York. Eventually, on October 9 at 12:00 UTC, Kyle made landfall in western Long Island, with maximum winds up to 100 mph (160 km/h) and a minimum central pressure of 963 mbar. The hurricane then went over New York City as it was rapidly weakening over land. It then finally became non-tropical on October 10, turning east out of the United States and back into the Atlantic. Preparations Lesser Antilles Puerto Rico The island of Puerto Rico had come less prepared than Maria 2 years ago. The sharp turn of the hurricane to the north unexplained panicked the people since they had less time to prepare for the hurricane. Hurricane watches and warnings in Puerto Rico were put right after it took the turn. People quickly put up protection on their houses and got their things ready for the hurricane. Since this is an island and they were unable to fly away due to the incoming hurricane, people were trapped there and had to find a shelter somewhere in the island, since the government had issued a evacuation there. New York Sacred that this’ll be another Sandy, the government of New York ordered a mass evacuation at NYC. More than 5 million people evacuated out of this city, making it one of the largest evacuations for a hurricane ever. The evacuation clogged most of the streets there; people were unable to get a faster evacuation. Impact Category:Category 5 Hurricanes Category:Category 5 Atlantic hurricanes Category:Deadly storms Category:Destructive storms Category:Costly storms Category:2020 Atlantic Hurricane Season Category:Retired storms Category:Storms that made landfall Category:New York hurricanes Category:Sandy156’s creations